Well, here I am, about five weeks out from the marathon at Hyannis, and I found myself over the past week running through all the same mental equations and vacillations I did before Portland – how long should I make my longest long run and when should I start my taper. The books and Web sites all give a widely varying range of advice — and the guys in my running group do theirs up past 26 miles! For me, I went to 22 twice before Portland, and struggled with whether to go higher. (Eventually, advice on the Runner’s World forums convinced me not to.) That was a much longer training cycle than this one, and I hit 22 very early. Maybe too early. For this one, I made it to 20 last weekend, and upon reflection, that felt like enough. Here’s why: given the cruddy weather (bitter cold, lots of wind and snow on the road for every long run this season), I felt as though I’d logged a lot of slow, grungy miles. And the beating my feet and legs took have prevented me from logging any really quality speedwork during the week. So I looked at my choices, one more long slow slog just to go an extra mile or two, or dive into my marathon simulation run (16 miles at slightly faster than marathon pace – the theory is that after your taper, you’ll be able to do for 26.2 what you could do for 16 at peak training fatigue). The snowstorm this weekend clinched it. I ran the sim run on the treadmill in the gym – 16 miles at six second per mile faster than my hoped for race pace. And while it was its own kind of misery (I hate long runs on the treadmill), it was good to know I could do it, and probably could have done it faster. (Goal pace was 7:24, much of it was run at 7:18, and the last three miles I did at 7:13.) And even though the treadmill is not the road (no wind for one thing), I felt good enough about the pace for the run to be a confidence booster. And I think that’s it. No more long runs. Maybe another 16 (at something less than race pace), a couple of 14s, and a 12. But I’m going to put the majority of my energy into good tempo workouts during the week. Teach my feet to be a little faster, and more efficient when they are going faster. I’ll see what happens. If I hit the wall at mile 21, it won’t be much different than last time. But if I can get there even faster, and keep running a little faster even after the wall, then maybe I’ll still squeak in under my Boston marathon qualifying time. And even if I don’t, calling it now may keep me out of a second injury cycle this round of training. And it will also mean no more snowstorm long runs — unless there’s a blizzard on race day.
Tags: marathon, Running, simulation run
The question, “How long should my longest run be?”, is a topic of much debate among my running friends. I believe a longer ‘long run’ will better prepare you to run strong in the last four or five miles of your marathon, but I have no proof, only anecdotal evidence. The question is moot, since the snowstorm made the decision for you. Still, based on the training you’ve done, you’ll be fine. The 16 miles which you ran at better than target pace will surely help. Run strong at Hyannis!
Thanks Frank! Hopefully I’ll do well enough at Hyannis to see you at Boston!